As you can see, I've uploaded recordings of both sessions so you can listen back to them as many times as you like and learn how to blog and podcast too. I will post the notes I made for the day as well later once I've updated them with a few screenshots.

The three hour morning and afternoon workshops took place at The Graduate School of Education in Berkeley Square and involved around fifteen trainee teachers in each. Setting up the laptops with microphone headsets and Audacity pre-installed took a matter of minutes and we were ready for our hour and a half of podcast training.

The written notes seem to come in handy as I explained the step by step process needed to produce an audio file in mp3 format, upload it to the internet and allow others to subscribe to it through iTunes.

As you can hear in the examples they produced on the day, the students have understood very well the basics of podcasting, but are still working on issues such as the distance their mouth is from the microphone to avoid distortion or to speak loudly enough to be heard clearly over the music track.

After a fifteen minute break, it was time for the blogging workshop to begin and I showed them how easy it was to set up a TypePad blog, to moderate comments and publish their podcast and so anyone could listen to it whenever or however they wanted. As you will hear from their feedback, the trainees realised the exciting potential of blogs and podcasts for producing personalised resources for their pupils, but felt they needed more time to refine the skills they had learnt already which was fair comment, I thought.

The atmosphere throughout the whole day was relaxed and informal and all the trainees rose to the challenge with aplomb. On a personal note, I was delighted to return to Bristol having spoken about the learning benefits of blogging and podcasting earlier this year and train colleagues on how to actually do it. I hope you find the training useful too and it helps you to have a go.

Don't forget all you need is a computer, microphone, internet connection and VISA card (if you want to subscribe to TypePad) to get started. See picture below for further clarification. Easy.

Despite becoming somewhat of a regular on the conference circuit in recent times, the prospect of speaking in front of my own colleagues and revealing my true ‘geekiness’ was a scary if unfounded thought. In reality, I had nothing to worry about as everyone reacted very warmly and generously shared their own experiences with each other.

The aim of the session was to show how technology can be used throughout the curriculum to offer new learning opportunities to enhance and personalise the education of pupils at Nodehill. I wanted to give concrete examples in a range of subjects which colleagues could specifically relate to as well as ask the Nodehill bloggers (Gill Bushell, Richard Peace, Peter Schlachter and Nick Wiltshire) to talk about their own individual takes on the power of blogging and podcasting.

The most nerve-wracking moment was waiting to videoconference with Silvia Tolisano, elementary school teacher at San Jose Episcopal Day School in Jackonsville, Florida. The previous week, Silvia and I had had a practise run with Flashmeeting as she was new to the service and this proved very useful when it came to the session itself. The way in which Silvia calmly discussed her ideas on using mp3 players and mobile phones both in and outside the classroom was amazing as was her use of Google Earth to ‘fly’ from her school to ours ‘across the pond’.

At the end of the session, staff gave their feedback in the form of post-it notes which I’ve typed up below. Since Wednesday, I’ve also been very pleased to hear colleagues openly discussing how they can use new technologies like blogging and podcasting in their teaching. I hope we can keep these conversations going and build on existing practice within the school. It is vital that we share our ideas and support each other. In this regard, I plan to run a further practical session on using Audacity in the coming weeks and then one on blogging after that.

Let’s hope we can continue to break down our classroom walls with technology and as the clipart at the top of this post suggests find out for ourselves what we can learn from doing so.

Great tips on how to use blogs better and include speech for those of lesser ability who struggle to write

You've inspired me to try it out!

Could we have a session where we blog?

What is the difference between a 'website + bulletin board' and a 'blog'? Aren't they the same?

Giving tips for exams or revision techniques

Why do you have to 'book time' for the Flashmeeting? Does it cost? (per minute?)

The pen is mightier than the sword ...

How often do you have to check emails?

Whilst at Superchoice visit with Year 6 - lots of them were using Bebo - anything to keep them interested and excited in the class should be encouraged - this is their technology! Their way of learning!

Subject-specific comments

Design and Technology - Gamemaker - Can post their games for other children to play on

Geography - Development of new original content - to publish and make available to pupils

Animation Club / Film Club - Set up a blog to celebrate all the work they do

My response

Time - Time is always an issue for any teacher. Blogging can be time-consuming if you let it. Once the blog is set up which takes a couple of hours in my experience, it's up to you how you choose to use it. I suggest experimenting and seeing how your pupils react.

Photos of pupils - As teachers we need to gain permission from parents which could be done on an individual basis or through a blanket policy covering any multimedia eventuality)

The iPod myth - because the word podcast has the word 'pod' in it, there is a common misconception that you need an iPod to podcast when this is not in fact the case.

Whole class recording with mp3 players - This depends on your purpose. If pupils record themselves all at once in pairs, then clearly there will be background noise. If the aim is for them simply to practise listening to themselves speak, that's OK. If they want to make a 'best' version they can take it in turns in or outside the classroom.

The difference between a 'website + bulletin board' and a 'blog'? - I think a blogis arguably more dynamic and perhaps more straightforward to set up. Moreover, as the blogmaster you can set your own tone and direct conversations yourself more easily. There are many similarities though, I agree.

Booking sessions for Flashmeeting - It is free to use Flashmeeting, but you have to set up an account first. I would imagine that you have to book sessions so The Open University can keep a record of who is using the service to ensure no-one abuses it.

Checking emails - I find moderating comments is not an onerous task as long as you don't ask too many classes to leave them all at the same time!

My ticket was fairly expensive as I had to book at the last minute and £20 taxi rides there and back only served to prove the point. Nevermind, once in situ at the rather plush Renaissance Hotel, and a gnocchi pesto dish later, my trivial financial woes seemed no longer serious as my mind turned to the more pressing reason for my visit.

The day followed a familiar pattern and delegates responded well to my corny jokes and the odd tip and trick (always a bonus). The PowerPoint session was quite demanding for those less familiar with using hyperlinks and changing background colours. However, reassurement came in the form of a step by step guide and of course my calm and patient manner, to boot. Phew! Teacher’s Pet as normal proved a hit as were the quick and easy interactive exercises designated to the ‘graveyard shift’ of the afternoon, a time when traditionally delegates’ stomach and minds tend to be somewhat satiated, following a suitably calorific lunch.

I was delighted to see colleagues generously sharing their ideas with other. Geraldine Devine from Chilwell Comprehensive School in Nottingham described how she uses Audacity to record model questions for her GCSE students so they can listen at home and answer them appropriately for revision purposes. Vanessa Parker, an Animation Factory fan like myself from The Radclyffe Lower School in Oldham showed me some of her own creations using triggers and drag and drop and admitted to being a big fan of my blog (which was nice). The presentations were amazing and I encouraged Vanessa to upload them to a site like MFLresources

To finish, Bernice Glatt a memorable delegate thanks to her inquisitive mind and unquestionable thirst for knowledge who had travelled all the way from The London Academy to attend the course agreed to record a few of her thoughts of the day below. Cheers Bernice!

Angela is project manager and Mona who teaches French at Beech Hill College, Monaghan liaises with the NCTE resource reviewers and administrates the information that appears on the web-portal. She is also very active at the Monaghan Education Centre coordinating a support group for Irish teachers.

Patrick Coffey who manages the national portal for ICT resources Scoilnet of which French.ie is one branch was unfortunately not able to attend.

Angela and Mona wanted to put on the workshop to provide free training for colleagues on the potential of using ICT for learning French as well as to encourage them to create a sense of community by sharing their ideas and resources via French.ie. One suggested way of doing this, was through the site's forum which since its launch has been mainly used by people from France requesting information on how to qualify as a French teacher in Ireland, what it is like to move and how to set up exchanges.

When the workshop was advertised on the French.ie and by email, there was a huge demand for places as the event sold out within a day and could have been filled twice over. This took everyone by surprise, particularly as some teachers were willing to travel from as far away as Donegal, Cork and Limerick to attend the event.

Delegates came from a range of backgrounds. Most were secondary school French teachers and the others were from institutes for technology, primary school teachers and masters students.

Chatting with the delegates on the day, it was clear that the type of ICT infrastructure and funding that we possibly take for granted in England simply doesn't exist in Ireland. Although all colleagues said that they had some access to an ICT suite, far fewer had the luxury of a data projector or interactive whiteboard in their department let alone in their classroom.

The workshop took place in the computer room of the Education Department, a former chapel and accommodation for the Salesian brothers with beautiful stain glass windows which were unfortunately covered over by modern blinds.

The training itself was great fun and all the delegates were full of energy and enthusiasm. They were also great sports when I asked them to pass round my iRiver at the end of the day and record their impressions in either English or French. Click on the following link to listen to what they had to say:

Apart from the course itself, another highlight of my trip to Ireland was being able to stay in the magnificient, Harry Potteresque Maynooth College, a seminary built in the late 18th Century for Irish Diocesan priests. The grandeur of having breakfast in Pugin Hall is something I won't forget in a long time.

Like Angela and Mona, I hope the training does help to kick start a culture of sharing ICT ideas and resources amongst Irish teachers. In England, we have certainly benefitted from such sites as

There is no reason why French.ie cannot be the catalyst for this vision too. Why not start the ball rolling and share your thoughts on their forum right now or leave a comment here? Who knows what might happen?

05/02/2007

Having heard the charismatic and inspirational Helen Myers speak at numerous conference appearances around the country in recent years, it was wonderful to finally make it to one of The Ashcombe Presentation Days and see for myself, the wide range of ICT resources she and other members of the MFL department at the school are using to enhance their pupils’ language learning and cultural awareness. I was not disappointed!

The day was well paced and included Helen’s comprehensive presentation, a tour of the school by the headteacher David Blow, a lovely lunch and some hands-on time in one of the languages multimedia suites.

I also had the chance to chat with the Ashcombe webmaster, David Seume about his exciting MFL Video iPod Project and gain a further insight into his innovative ideas on how a video iPod can be used as an interactive language learning tool. David has kindly agreed to my suggestion of shooting a short video tutorial of him using his video iPod to answer questions about one of the school’s existing GCSE French video clips. I look forward to seeing the results.

One of the talking points of the day was seeing a normal desk become a computer work station in a matter of seconds as if by magic. Watch this short video clip and you'll see what I mean!

31/12/2006

Scrapblog is an online tool for creating multimedia montages using drag and drop technology. It can handle:

video

photos

text and speech bubbles

clipart

audio

It has a lot of potential in the languages classroom for creating:

photo-stories

cartoons

posters

guides

webquests

You can embed hyperlinks which allow you to jump from slide to slide or to external sites as in PowerPoint. You can also publish your finished work to a website or blog. Here is one I made earlier. Note the title is a hyperlink.

21/12/2006

This evening I had an inspriring chat with Bernard Clark, language college director at Durham Johnston School in the northeast of England about how he and his colleagues are using interactive whiteboards, digital audio and podcasting in their language teaching. Thanks to SkypeOut I was able to telephone Bernard's landline and record the conversation using PrettyMay and my Logitech USB microphone.

Here is a summary of our conversation with quotes where relevant:

Interactive Whiteboards

Languages were the first department to trial IWBs

Immediate positive reaction from students

Improved pace to lessons

Reduced workload as staff organised and shared their resources

More economical as less paper needed

Lower ability pupils benefitted from visual element

Increased repetition with focus on words

"It was just an immediate change with students. We don’t use them for lots of running up and down. It’s a lot of traditional teaching from the front. The whiteboard just makes a difference because of the visibility of the thing and the speed in the lessons really. That’s the key. You don’t need to mess around picking things up when you can just hit a button and it’s there on the screen. That’s the absolute beauty of it."

Digital Audio

Converting cassettes into digital recordings using sound editing software such as Cool Edit (Adobe Audition) or Audacity and a standard cable with 3.5 mm headphone jack at either end

"That’s the technology they are used to nowadays. They are always recording. They are always downloading. They are always putting stuff on to their mp3 players, on to their phones. We have the technology now and the power in the computers to be able to do that. You don’t need to have everything written down or corrected."

We got off to a lively start and had a look at how to put together a PowerPoint presentation for teaching vocabulary using hyperlinks, action buttons, specific animations and colour to reinforce gender. Then it was the Teacher's Pet toolbar for MS Word in the second session as well as how to make a writing frame with dropdown menus and help prompts. After the amazing lunch, we had a look at Spellmaster, Toolkit for Teachers and le jeu du pendu as good examples of useful freeware for language learning. Finally, I gave a quick demonstration of how to put together a basic podcast using Audacity, a Logitech USB microphone and FlashKit loops.

The delegates were great and the staff very helpful. All in all a lovely day. The course wil be on again on 22nd March in the same venue. Click here for more information.

As part of their CPD network, the Trust commissions innovative teachers across the curriculum to create training packs or 'toolkit' sessions on the use of technology in their subject area which are then rolled out around the country at regional centres. The nominated trainers at these centres meet up twice a year and receive a day's training on the latest toolkit. Eight languages toolkits have been produced to date and they include between four and two cutting edge sessions on topics such as PowerPoint, video-editing, web authoring, Word and now podcasting.